The present invention relates to pacifiers for infants and more particularly to a pacifier of which all of the component parts are formed integrally by molding.
Pacifiers for infants have, of course, been known for many years heretofore. However, the pacifiers which have been available to date have been found to be hazardous in use. Studies have shown, for example, that infants, on occasion, swallow the pacifier and sometimes die from asphixiation. The provision of a transversely extending guard member ameliorates this condition to some extent; however, cases are of record in which the pacifier guard or shield has become lodged in the throat of the infant and could not be removed prior to the infant's asphixiation.
It has been proposed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in a change to 16 CFR 1500 and 1511, Published in Federal Register, Vol. 41, No. 204, Oct. 20, 1976, to provide apertures in the guard of the pacifier such that even in those situations where the guard member becomes lodged in the mouth or throat of the infant a passage for air will be provided to avoid asphixiation. However, although apparently satisfactorily in theory, it is contemplated that such a proposed safeguard may not produce the desired results in practice. Thus, one characteristic of infants is the relatively large amount of salivation which they produce when sucking a nipple and it would be expected that such salivation would interfere with or totally prevent the passage of air through such apertures. Further, the mouth of an infant is small so that should the nipple and guard be ingested the guard would fold over, and the aperture would become blocked. Additionally, the location of the apertures in the transversely extending guard member poses a problem in the fabrication of the pacifier.
It will, therefore, be appreciated that although the hazardous nature of pacifiers has already been recognized there has yet to be advanced a satisfactory solution to the problem.